Following boundary changes in 1997 the town of Falkirk is longer in this seat. Despite including large tracts of open countryside, it is industrial in character and mainly working class. Grangemouth holds both a modern container port and a vast petrochemical complex, the chimneys of which can be seen belching smoke for miles around. The BP plant was the site of the main petrol blockade during the fuel protest in September 2000. A year later BP announced that it was cutting 1,000 jobs - 40% of the workforce. One of seatís more novel sights is a 45-foot stone pineapple at Dunmore, built to mark an ill-fated attempt at cultivation of the fruit in the eighteenth century and a tourist attraction today.

Like most seats in the central belt it has been solidly Labour, the sitting MP Michael Connarty winning a majority of 10,712 in 2001. He applied to stand for the Scottish Parliament in 1999 but, like Dennis Canavan, was rejected by Labour's central selection panel. Cathy Peattie was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Labour in 1999 with a majority of 4,000.